As it was wrapping up business for 2012 and heading off for the holidays, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") left a lump of coal in Bonneville Power Administration's stocking in the form of two orders rejecting Bonneville's efforts to address wind generation curtailments during periods of over-generation. Together, the orders put Bonneville's efforts to address the over-generation problem nearly back to square one.

As we have previously explained in greater detail, the rapid growth of the Pacific Northwest's wind industry in the last decade has, at times, produced too much of a good thing. When high spring-time flows on the Columbia coincide with high winds in the Columbia Gorge, the combined output of the region's wind generation fleet and the hydroelectric dams exceeds regional electric demand. The situation is further complicated because Clean Water Act standards on dissolved gases designed to prevent gas bubble trauma in aquatic species limit the extent to witch Bonneville can spill water, requiring it to run water through hydroelectric turbines instead.

I have a quarter century of experience in the energy industry, especially in energy regulation, contracts, and litigation. I look forward to assisting clients in this time of epochal change in our industry. Because of developments like the Smart Grid and other technological advances, renewable portfolio standards, and climate science, the energy industry is changing more rapidly now than at ...